CAKE unveils new high-performance motor for electric motorcycles

The Stockholm-based electric motorbike manufacturer CAKE has just unveiled its new Jante motor that is designed for light electric motorcycles.

It’s been a big week for Swedish electric vehicle companies. With everything from electric boat news, fancy electric bikes, electric microcars, and even flying electric surfboards, now we’re seeing a new electric motor designed for e-motorcycles. These Scandinavians sure aren’t taking any breaks.

CAKE’s new Jante motor is an internal permanent magnet (IPM) motor whose design focused primarily on efficiency, power, and reliability in a relatively small package.

The lightweight construction uses an aircraft-grade aluminum housing designed to optimize the performance of the light motor. That “less is more” attitude aligns well with CAKE’s minimalist frame designs.

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The drivetrain was developed to operate on both low and high voltage with the ability to hit speeds of over 100 km/h (62 mph) and torque outputs of 500 Nm at the rear wheel. That aligns well with the target for CAKE’s flagship motorbikes, which blur the line between urban commuters and off-road dirt bikes.

Will it challenge an electric Harley? Probably not. But it’s designed to be light and efficient, which is the underlying design ethos of CAKE.

According to the company, the Jante motor’s design makes it CAKE’s most optimized IPM motor. The Jante features “radial flux for efficiency and power, low cogging that allows smooth acceleration and precision handling at low speeds, and its air-cooled system allows high torque at high RPM.”

As CAKE CEO and cofounder Stefan Ytterborn explained:

We are very excited to introduce our new high performance Jante Drivetrain. The Jante represents a significant advancement in CAKE’s electric motor design, providing our customers with a superior product that meets their needs for performance, efficiency, and reliability.

The biggest reason for our in-house developed motor is to take major steps forward, increasing performance for the category of lightweight electric motorcycles. At the heart of our vehicles everything is based on CAKE components that together deliver performance to the next level. We are happy to see our drivetrain technology being used in a number of bold projects. CAKE battery controller algorithms and more are already in other builds, and the new Jante is a significant addition to our drivetrain technology.

The motor’s name comes from the Law of Jante, or Jantelagen in Swedish. It’s a type of social norm that is common in Nordic countries, especially Sweden, which presents as a form of extreme modesty regarding accomplishments.

These norms emphasize humility and the idea that no individual is more important than the collective group.

It’s why you’ll rarely hear Swedes bragging about themselves or their accomplishments, instead preferring to let their actions speak for themselves.

It’s also why if your job is to interview Swedes about their accomplishments, you might find that you have your work cut out for you.

But with all of the electric innovation coming out of Sweden lately, from the seas to the roads to the trails, it’s hard to imagine that the country’s engineers don’t have a significant amount to be proud of.